Freedom of Information Publication Scheme

A.Information about the National Standards Authority of Ireland - NSAI

Who we are and what we do

The primary functions of the NSAI are to develop and promote written standards, provide conformity assessment services for products, management systems and processes, realise and maintain physical measurement standards for the State traceable to international standards and enforce legislation related to measuring instruments and measurements in trade use.

The Authority is established under the National Standards Authority of Ireland Act, 1996 and operates under the aegis of the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. It is a public body for the purposes of the FOI Act 2014, accordingly, its records may, subject to certain exceptions, be accessed through an FOI request.

Roles, Responsibilities and Functions

The role and responsibilities of the NSAI are to fulfil the functions set down in the NSAI Act 1996, the Metrology Acts 1980-1996 and to fulfil the technical and administrative functions assigned under legislation by or on behalf of various government departments.

The services provided by NSAI are delivered through the following core activities:

Standardisation

Link: Standardisation
NSAI develops, publishes and promotes Irish, European and International Standards with the aim of improving the efficiency, quality, design, performance, safety and the environmental impact of goods and services produced. NSAI participation in standards development through the national consultative committee network or international standards committees gives Irish businesses access to a network of national and international stakeholders (standards researchers/experts, potential customers, competitors, suppliers, consumers and users), thereby shaping the future standards applicable to their own industries.

In addition to its standardisations functions under the NSAI Act, NSAI is also notified as the national standardisation body for Ireland under Article 27 of EU Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 on European standardisation taking up the functions and responsibilities assigned under the EU Regulation.

NSAI is member of the European standardisation bodies CEN, CENELEC and ETSI and the international standardisation bodies ISO and IEC. Through its membership NSAI engages with European and international standardisation.

According to the membership rules of the European and international standardisation organisations as well as European law, domestic standards may only be developed provided there is no overlap with European or international standards.

Scientific and Industrial Metrology

Link:National Metrology Labortory
Through the National Metrology Laboratory (NML) facility, NSAI discharges the role of the national metrology institute for Ireland which is to provide industrial and scientific metrology to Irish industry, through access to internationally traceable measurement standards and an accompanying high precision instrument calibration service. These activities support businesses who have requirements for the highest measurement accuracy throughout their development, manufacturing and control processes.

The NML is member of Euramet the European cooperation on scientific and industrial metrology and is signatory to the mutual recognition agreement on measurement standards (CIPM MRA) of the BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures).

Legal Metrology

Link:Legal Metrology
As the NSAI’s regulatory function, the Legal Metrology Service, is charged with the oversight of measurements and measuring instruments used in trade, and has the powers to investigate and prosecute for breaches of metrology legislation. Legal Metrology operates on a risk-based assessment model covering 40,000 traders and 75,000 trading instruments deployed across a wide range of industry sectors, from food production, including export enterprises, to local retailing. These protections underpin trade equity and consumer confidence, which contribute significantly to the stability of the economy closest to the public.

Legal Metrology is member of WELMEC the cooperation of European authorities responsible for legal metrology and represents the State at the OIML (International Organisation of Legal Metrology).

Conformity Assessment (Certification)

Link:Certification
Through internationally recognised schemes, NSAI provides an independent, third party conformity assessment service that enables businesses to demonstrate to their customers, stakeholders and the wider public that their products or services meet the appropriate standards. A comprehensive suite of schemes is provided to meet industry requirements for:

Mandatory certification – in certain sectors such as medical and automotive, products or services cannot be placed on the market without approval or certification by an approved designated body.

Voluntary certification – this is utilised by businesses to improve their efficiency or to demonstrate that their products and services meet the requirements of standards.

NSAI is appointed by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport as the Irish Type Approval Authority for Passenger and Commercial vehicles, 2/3 Wheeled Vehicles and Quadricycles and Non-Road Mobile Machinery. Additionally, it carries out functions related to the transport sector as competent authority for approval and monitoring of Tachograph Workshops and Plating and Speed Limitation Devices Workshops, conformity assessment of ADR tanks and vessels, type approval of transport equipment for international carriage of perishable foods and conformity assessment of receptacles, tanks and containers for equipment used to transport dangerous goods by road.

NSAI is a notified body for conformity assessment related to European CE marking for -

Data Protection Act requests for access to personal records held by NSAI

General enquiries and correspondence

Governance and Management arrangements

The NSAI is committed to best practice structure, processes and systems that support the successful operation of duties in an ethical, accountable, transparent and effective manner. NSAI has a documented quality assurance system and is certified to ISO 9001 standard throughout its operations.

The NSAI Board is made up of a maximum of 13 members including the CEO, two staff representatives and one Departmental official.

The Board is responsible for governance of the Authority and guiding NSAI’s strategic direction. The Board reports to the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

Contact Details for FOI and other requests

FOI Requests

In general, a person has a right to access information which is not otherwise publically available. However, certain NSAI certification records are not subject to the FOI Act under S.I. No. 127 of 2001. The exempt records are those related to certification carried out on request of a client in return for payment other than certifications carried out on behalf of a public authority which itself is subject to the FOI Act.

NSAI records subject to FOI include -

Management

Administration

Finance

Commercial

Communications

Making of contracts of or for service with any person, company or other body

Making and development of policy

Certification (other than the exempt records)

Requests for information may be made by contacting the FOI Officer, 1 Swift Square, Northwood, Santry, Dublin 9, D09 A0E4 or by email foi@nsai.ie

Access to Information on the Environment – AIE requests

NSAI is a public authority under the AIE Regulations (Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007 to 2014). Requests for access to relevant records may be made by contacting the AIE Officer, 1 Swift Square, Northwood, Santry, Dublin 9, D09 A0E4 or by email aie@nsai.ie

Personal Data

NSAI complies with the requirements of Data Protection legislation. Requests for access to personal data for which NSAI is responsible may be made by contacting the FOI Officer, 1 Swift Square, Northwood, Santry, Dublin 9, D09 A0E4 or by email foi@nsai.ie

Re-use of Public Sector Information

NSAI complies with the requirements for Re-use of Public Sector Information and encourages the re-use of the information it publishes. Information and documents obtained from the NSAI website may be reproduced and/or re-used once in compliance with conditions and the latest PSI licence.

Customer Charter

Code of Conduct

B. Services Provided to the Public

Our key activities are development and publication of written standards, traceability and enforcement of measurement standards, and certification of products, processes and services.

For written standards we can assist you with:

How to search the standards catalogue

Whether a standard is being developed and, if so, what stage the work is at

How to become a participant of a standardization work group

How to see and make comments on draft standards

How to buy a standard

How to view a standard abstract

What professional bodies or government bodies/agencies might be able to help you to look at a standard in more detail

For physical measurement standards we can assist you with:

Whether we provide traceability or a calibration service for a measurement unit

How to get a quote for calibration

How to interpret the information on the calibration certificate

About the topics and dates of the metrology training programme

What your obligations and liabilities are as a user of a measuring instrument in trade use

What your obligations and liabilities are as a packer of pre-packaged products

What your obligations and liabilities are as a manufacturer, importer or distributer of measuring instruments used for regulated purposes

About the inspection of measuring instruments in trade use and manufacturers of pre-packaged products

For conformity assessment (certification) services we can assist you with:

What products, processes and services we certify

How to get a quote for certification

What your obligations are as a certified business or provider of certified products

What products must be certified in order to comply with CE marking requirements

How to find a certification body for your product if we do not provide that service

What government departments or agencies are responsible for market surveillance of CE marked products

Fees for NSAI services

Fees are charged for standards publications sold through the NSAI web portal at Standards Sales. Each standard publication is priced separately, additional sales features are available for tailored packages and regular updating for standards of interest.

The Irish standards catalogue of domestic, European and International standards is available to browse at no cost in NSAI Headquarters. A member of the customer service team is available by appointment to assist in searching the database.

Fees are charged for conformity assessment services, calibration, measurement training courses and legal metrology verifications. Quotations for services are available in advance by contacting NSAI Headquarters or submitting a request for quotation through the NSAI website.

Complaints and Appeals Handling

NSAI is committed to providing a quality service to its customers and strives to continuously improve its services.

C.Decision Making for Major Policy Proposals

NSAI is a technical services and legal enforcement organisation and does not make public policy. NSAI activities enable the delivery of policies of other State bodies (government departments, offices and agencies) by providing the technical support infrastructure for developing standards, codes of practice etc. and providing conformity assessment, measurement calibration, inspection and verification services.

NSAI works closely with other State bodies, businesses, consumers and other interested stakeholders to achieve workable solutions that deliver on public policy objectives.

D.Financial Information

What we earn and what we spend

NSAI charges fees on a cost recovery basis for its fee charging activities and is part funded by grant from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation vote. The most recent Financial Report is given in NSAI Annual Report.

E.Procurement

How we spend it

NSAI has a documented Corporate Procurement Policy in compliance with Department of Finance public services procurement requirements. The current thresholds for procurement procedures, exclusive of VAT, are set down in the following table.